


STAY THE NIGHT

by frnklyiero



Series: VARIATION [11]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Comfort Reading, Humor, M/M, Neighbors, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 13:43:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16598969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frnklyiero/pseuds/frnklyiero
Summary: "What do you expect me to say when you break in to my house then introduce yourself like that?""Your name, for starters. And an explanation of why you threw an egg beater at me."where Josh finds a strange man from the basement of the house he just moved in to.





	STAY THE NIGHT

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot was imported from my old Wattpad account. The version you read now is the version as it was last available on Wattpad.

Of all the times Josh could've gotten an unexpected—a glorified way of saying unwanted—visitor, it just had to be in the middle of the night on his first day of moving in. He had been laying in bed upstairs doing nothing other than watching Black Mirror on his laptop when he heard a loud crash from downstairs. He had been startled badly, almost spilling his bag of chips all over the floor before catching himself at the last moment before all the fried goodness could dirty his floor. As his heart thudded loudly against his chest, he had waited a few heartbeats to hear if there was any more sounds.

Josh wasn't brave enough to investigate right away but he was stupid enough to venture downstairs without a bat, or anything to arm him, from possible intruders. With cold adrenaline racing through his veins, Josh tiptoed around the house in search of the source of the earlier disruption when he heard some shuffling while passing by the door leading to the basement under the staircase. His head had swivelled in its direction; a part of him had hoped he'd been watching one too many horror movies to have imagined the sounds. Unfortunately, the shuffling he heard was very real and he also caught someone speaking in a low murmuring tone.

If it was a burglar, they were stupid because there was nothing of value, unless they considered cobwebs and dust bunnies important.

Hands clutching his phone, Josh began to dial 911 and grabbed the nearest thing he could use as a weapon—an egg beater that was lying around in the kitchen. When he returned to the door, he heard footsteps which further confirmed the presence of a human being in his basement.

In a robotic motion, Josh gave the doorknob a twist before slowly pulling the door open by just a crack. It was enough for him to peek inside when he saw a flash of movement. Startled, he backed away on impulse before regaining his composure. He was pretty sure he saw a strip of reflective yellow patch. What kind of burglar would wear a reflective patch, Josh wondered before coming to the conclusion that the person was either crazy or he was the dumbest burglar ever.

Breathing deeply, Josh prepared himself to whack the shit out of that burglar with his egg beater when he threw the door open to find his target standing there before him. Josh let out a loud shriek and so did the burglar when he threw the egg beater in his direction.

"Ow, bitch, what the fuck?" cried out the burglar indignantly with his hand on his stomach, doubling over.

"What the fuck yourself!" Josh had fallen over and was scrambling to get up. "Get the fuck out of my house!" A part of him knew it wasn't the most effective way to make someone leave while scrambling on your ass.

" _Your house?_ " The man repeated in utter incredulity before raising his head. That was when Josh had a good look at his face.

A pair of glasses sat crookedly on their nose while a scowl contorted their features. The person had a shaved head and was of average build. A little on the skinny side but the look on their face was fierce enough for Josh to reconsider his impression that this person wasn't aggresive. Their clothes had a disheveled appearance, shirt untucked (there was that reflective patch on their shoulder for some reason), tie askew and ... were those grass stains on their dress pants? Whoever this person was, they were probably a nutcase, Josh decided.

"Your house," repeated the person in a low tone that caused Josh's limbs to lock up in fear. Just as quickly as his expression turned murderous, a bright grin surfaced on their features. "Well congratulations!" The man held out their hand. Josh stared at him, utterly dumbfounded and speechless. "It's been awhile since this house has had any tenants. I'm Tyler. Tyler Joseph. I live next door."

Josh continued to stare with an open mouth. He couldn't decide whether this was some dream or he was obligated to introduce himself to this strange person from his basement.

"Eh, I thought you were a talker but I guess not since you're not saying anything." Tyler pulled his hand away and cleared his throat. His eyes traveled away from Josh's when he coughed delicately. There was a tiny hint of embarrassment in his gesture.

"What do you," began Josh when he found his voice, "expect me to say when you break in to my house then introduce yourself like that?" With the wall behind him as support, Josh pulled himself to his feet. He didn't dare to loft his gaze away from Tyler, especially not when he just witnessed the sudden shift in Tyler's expression earlier. Who knew if this guy was going to pull some crazy shit if he blinked?

"Your name, for starters," Tyler answered, seemingly ignorant of how wary Josh was. "And an explanation of why you threw an egg beater at me. Do you know it's rude to do that? Throw things at people, I mean."

"Excuse you," Josh scoffed and forgot about his fear and apprehension at how blunt this stranger was. "You have the audacity to break into my house and then tell me it's rude to protect myself?"

"Look," Tyler said then raised his hands, "I mean no harm—"

"Please, you look like a psychopath—"

"With this taste in fashion? Not likely." Tyler bent down, which caused Josh to give a start, when he picked up the egg-beater. "Anyway, it's nice meeting you, Mr Egg-Beater—"

"Dun."

"Done what, exactly?"

"Josh Dun. That's my name," Josh snapped irritably before snatching the egg-beater out of Tyler's hands. Tyler didn't even blink but he did look mildly disappointed. "And now that we're acquainted, please leave my house."

"Really?" Tyler deadpanned. "Are you seriously going to send me back to home?"

"Well, you could go to the dumpster for all I care. Anywhere except for my house."

Tyler opened his mouth then closed it to pout. "I'm sorry that's non-negotiable."

"But this is my property —"

"Because I have a little paranormal situation at home and I'd like to minimize all possible contact with the supernatural for the meantime." Tyler gestured behind him. "Hence, I thought I'd hide in your basement. I crawled in through the window, by the way."

By now, Josh was no longer fearing for his life. Instead, he was bewildered and annoyed as to why this Tyler person thought it was completely alright to pop in Josh's basement and hide from ghosts. Pissed, Josh started towards Tyler and began to march him to the front door by the shoulders. "That's rather unfortunate," said Josh while Tyler spluttered in protest and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, "but you need to deal with your little Casper situation by yourself, thank you."

"But —"

Just a few more footsteps to the door. "So have a good night —"

"Wait!" Tyler threw his hands out to grab the doorjamb and dug his shoes into the floor, giving Josh a hard time to push him out. "Please, Dun, Joshua, Josh —"

"Don't call me that," Josh grunted whilst doing his best to push Tyler out. But the man's grip was as strong as his will not to return to his home tonight.

"Please, don't make me go back in there." Perhaps the childlike and near-desperate protest Tyler released made Josh stop himself. "Please, I'm scared of them," he added in the same tone before sparing a glance over his shoulder. There was a look of fear in his eyes.

Josh didn't say a thing for a long time, making sure to pack as much anger in his gaze. But neither men broke the prolonged eye contact until Josh sighed and shook his head. "Fine," he huffed. "Sit your ass in kitchen and close the door too," he barked and stormed off; he didn't hear the words of gratitude spilling from Tyler's mouth.

After throwing the "coffee or tea" question over his shoulder and receiving an excited "Milk, please!" Josh went to grab a carton from the fridge. He was going to let Tyler stay, for fifteen minutes at most, before he'd try to kick Tyler out again. Josh knew there'd be no way Tyler could say no this time, not when Josh was showing him (unwilling) hospitality. Might as well act nicer too so it'd be easier to guilt-trip Tyler to leave his residence.

After pouring a glass for Tyler, Josh turned around to find the other man perched at the counter while looking around the kitchen. The curiosity in his features was almost childlike. There was a small smile resting on his features, almost like he found himself already comfortable in a stranger's home. Even though they had just met and in the wrong situation, Josh found Tyler somewhat endearing. "Oh, thank you." Tyler's eyes lit up when Josh placed the glass before him.

"Tyler, right?" asked Josh as he leaned casually against the counter.

"Mhm." Tyler hadn't made any move to drink the milk. Instead, he had his hands wrapped around the glass, almost like he was trying to soak up the condensation forming on the surface or something.

"And why my place? Out of all the places you could've broken into?"

"Well, to be fair," Tyler said before he sipped from his glass, "I had no idea anyone was home."

"I do recall leaving some of the lights on."

"Minor details." Tyler waved his hand dismissively, which caused Josh's eyebrows to twitch upwards. "Minor details I didn't take note of when I was running away from my own home," he explained.

"Huh." Josh was unimpressed and unconvinced but he waited until Tyler drained his glass of milk.

Wiping off his milk mustache with his sleeve, Tyler rose and stood where he was in full view of Josh's vision. Then he gestured at himself. "You see, this isn't how an average person would look like on a Wednesday night."

"Yeah, they'd totally be in their jammies at this time," Josh agreed reluctantly. "So let me see if I've got this whole mess right." He squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose before he looked at Tyler. "Tyler Joseph?"

"That's me."

"Lives next door."

"Yep!"

"Has an office desk job."

"Eh, kinda."

"Also lives in a haunted house."

"A super haunted house."

"And expects me to let you stay over for the night because I'm such a good neighbor?"

Tyler's smile was as bright as day . "Correct!" Had Josh been in a different situation he wouldn't have been irritated he felt soft looking at Tyler's expression. Then as though Tyler had heard his thoughts, his smile faltered all together. "If that's okay, I mean, you seem annoyed I'm here at all."

"Annoyed is one way to put it," Josh said in a neutral tone when Tyler laughed apologetically. Before Josh could say anything else, Tyler walked up to him and placed the empty glass in his hand. Josh was about to ask what's with him when Tyler gave him a mock salute and marched out the door. Confused, it took Josh a moment to stop staring after him before he set the glass on the counter and rushed to the hallway to find Tyler heading towards the front door. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Eh, home?" Tyler already had his hand twisting the doorknob. "You've been, er, somewhat hospitable and I wouldn't want to overstay —"

Wait, was this guy for real? Josh thought.

"—your welcome. Plus you gave me milk and not judged by taste, if that's not a sign that you're actually a nice person even though you threw an egg beater at me—"

Josh couldn't believe what he did next. "Stay," he said; he didn't mean to say it as forcefully as he had that it sounded like a command rather than an invitation. Tyler turned on his heel and regarded him in mild incredulity. Heat flooded Josh's cheeks as he looked away from Tyler to the floor then back again. "You stink and you need a shower," he said just to take the attention off him.

"I do?" Tyler lifted his arm and sniffed loudly, earning a slight cringe from Josh. "Hm, I guess so."

"Anyway, just stay for the night." Josh sighed, wondering what sort of demon convinced him to let his sympathy take over the reins. Rubbing the back of his neck, he passed by Tyler, who was looking at him like some sort of treasure, and went upstairs. "You should also shower. I have some clothes that might fit you," Josh was saying while Tyler followed from behind. "In the meantime, you really gotta look for a good psychic or priest to get rid of those ghosts or demons."


End file.
